Pins, Dreams, and Milk [PDMk29]13 March, 2013

Oy, is that a horrid title or what? Sorry. But it does illustrate the sheer diversity of today's crop of artists. We have something for everyone today, so let's just dive right in...

Long Hat Pins – One-man producer of curious and experimental post-punk. Confessing a love for such dissonant artists as 23 Skidoo, The Monochrome Set, and Sonic Youth, Long Hat Pins strike a balance between introspection and temerity. In the EP Luminous, he fuses pulsing guitar lines with sparse beats, expressive vocals with sampled dialogue. Strongly evokes the likes of For Against, Crispy Ambulance, and Opposition, but hacks out his own path with piercing electric stabs.

“The sound of Summer, in the rain” is the odd dub track, with the signature echoed snare and meandering bass; yet, the guitars that sneak throughout the track, like irregular shafts of light, add intrigue. “Mugging salmon” is another fascinating track, with some wonderfully quiet and pondering vocals, that mixes clean acoustic guitar lines with thick electric smears. The EP ends strongly on “Ayramba”, a shuffling track dense with ominous buzzes and throbbing guitars.

Long Hat Pins’ “Luminous” is available via Bandcamp at a name-your-price rate.

Young Dreams – Oh. My. God. This artist wasn’t originally on my roster, but after stumbling upon them on the radio, I had to rave. Young Dreams are a Norwegian band that crafts lush, imaginative soundscapes with heavenly vocals and harmonies, flutes, harps, and violins, and vigorous and snappy synth lines.

Young Dreams’ first LP, Between Places, is beyond “dreamy” – it’s more lucid than that, far more colorful and vivid than the faded dreams of our adulthood. “Fog of War”, their first single, has all the drama, glory, and suspense of a major motion film; the bright and summery “First Days of Something” shimmers and shines with activity and detail, yet ends on an intriguing viola air. As bright, pure, and poppy as these tracks may be, they’re also elaborate – take “Through the Turnstiles”, which shifts from an acapella intro to the adventurous melody to a moody, suspended finish. It’s nothing but sheer, unadulterated bliss, I assure you.

You can listen to Young Dreams via Spotify, or find out more about the band via their web page.

Churn Milk Joan – Drugged-out, wobbling, and (indeed!) churning sonic experiments from Colin Robinson and Richard Knutson. Proper jams, of the 7 to 8-minute variety, immediately entrancing and arresting. At once on 8 Black Postcards, with opener “Fell Through The Sky”, you’re launched into this intoxicating, funked-up beat, and driven through such wandering and wicked jams that you’ll find yourself disoriented in no time. What is this madness – a dubby krautrock, or funk distorted by analog? You’ll be in for another loop with “The Letter”, which shuffles to a hip-hopping back beat yet features some fluttering guitar work. (And is it just me, or does Richard sound a tad like Peter Murphy? Could be me.)

My favorite, though, is probably the somewhat more menacing (and certainly more meandering) “Boom Dipper Stick”, which features another alluring beat and noodling bass and guitar lines deftly interlacing each other. Good lord, it’s heady.

Without a doubt, Churn Milk Joan is another band to watch. Chillax to 8 Black Postcards on their Bandcamp site, and buy it there for whatever you’re willing to pay (and I’d pay something, if I were you!).

Update: Churn Milk Joan's last release, Without A Horse, featured in our last "Album of the Week". Not quite as heady as 8 Black Postcards, but certainly more intriguing. Download that, too, for whatever price you desire (just not for free!).